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Recent Stanley Cup winners spent the first day of NHL free agency re-signing key players to long-term contracts. The NHL champion Colorado Avalanche brought back big defender Josh Manson and the team they beat in the final, the Tampa Bay Lightning, extended center Anthony Cirelli and defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and Erik Cernak for eight years each.
Boston acquires Pavel Zacha and sends center Erik Haula to New Jersey in a deal completed less than an hour before the free-agency period opened.
Anaheim drafted Pavel Mintyukov, thus picking a Russian defenseman in the first round for the first time since 2001.
The Avalanche goaltender had an inconsistent postseason, battling through an eye issue stemming from Game 3 of the first round.
It is hard to remember a more memorable trade deadline than the one we saw this past March. Virtually every team that was in the playoff mix made some kind of move to bolster their chances at a Stanley Cup run.